Check-out the article. I liked it a lot, notably the 20 Second Rule "To break a bad habit, add 20 seconds to the time it takes to engage in that bad habit." But my favorite part was his neurological explanation for the power of small wins and dangers of big hairy goals alone:

Goals that are too big paralyze you. They literally shut off your brain, says Achor. Here's what happens to your brain when faced with a daunting goal or project:

The amygdala, the part of the brain that responds to fear and threats, hijacks the "thinker" part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, says Achor. The amygdala steals resources from the prefrontal cortex, the creative part of the brain that makes decisions and sees possibilities.

"We watch this on a brain scan," he says. "The more the amygdala lights up, the less the prefrontal cortex does."Breaking a big goal into smaller, more achievable goals prevents the fear part of your brain from hijacking your thinking cap and gives you victories.

Pretty cool, huh? I have not read Shawn's book, but it sounds cool. Bosses beware, setting those big goals without breaking them into bite-sized people (or allowing and encouraging your followers to do so) will make you and your people dumb and uncreative -- at least if Shawn is right.

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This article relates to my situation. I am in school now working on my MBA. The semester is coming to a close. Next week I have a term project due, a case study to present and two group projects due. These are four huge assignments all due at once

Bob, I interviewed Shawn for the HBR IdeaCast after reading his book and finding it incredibly helpful. I'm so glad to see it appearing here on your blog, as well! It's a great into to positive psychology and, especially helpful, actually has lots of actionable advice on how to use this knowledge to your advantage.

I appreciate the wisdom of breaking down huge goals, but I really love the power created by breaking down the goal, managing activation energy, and attacking it all with optimism. An unbeatable combination, I think!

Bob,
Excellent article ans so true in our day to day professional & personal life.
I believe any assignment or problem can be broken down till we feel it is in manageable chunks.
At that point we have understood and conquered it.
Success is then assured.

It so true, I see it almost everyday in life. My example is from the university, when you study for exams or writing a paper, but you are just getting paralyzed. You think about how hard and impossible it is, instead of just dividing your work into small little achievable parts.

I experienced this paralysis full force no more than a week ago. Left with one day left on a huge work project, I found myself unable to even begin sorting my research and data. I felt it could not be done and, in a panic, there was shut down. So I gave up for an hour, then tinkered away at some simple regressions. This led me to other simple calculations and ideas. 12 hours later (with limited rest) I presented a full, invoking report. Breaking it down. Love it.

This is a very enlightening post. I have big ideas and goals for myself, yet when it comes down to it I freeze and never understood why. I see now that I need to break it into simpler smaller manageable steps in order to be successful. Thanks for the insight.

Sometimes people will listen to words of wisdom for years before it clicks for whatever reason. Perhaps some arguable scientific results will just be the trigger some folks need to just take a step back and tackle one task at a time...
Good luck, you'll get there, don't forget to look up once in awhile.

Great post. I've just started a new job at a new company and I've begun to feel overwhelmed and seemingly can't grasp even the more simpler directions provided to me, and I've been literally wondering if maybe ...my brain has just gotten to full (or I've just gotten to old). This posts reminds me this feeling/challenge is normal. I will say however, as another commenter alluded to, some people seem better adapting and so perhaps they are able to better prioritize/process the mountain of information?

Whenever I think about the concept of breaking things into small pieces, I think about two quotes that I'd like to share.

The first one is from a book called "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life" by Anne Lamont.

"Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he'd had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said, 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'"

The second quote is from a lighter source: the stop-motion animation Christmas special, "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town."

"Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door"

This article relates to my situation. I am in school now working on my MBA. The semester is coming to a close. Next week I have a term project due, a case study to present and two group projects due. These are four huge assignments all due at once. When I think about it the assigments are daunting and I get stressed out not knowing where to begin. I can identify with the paralysis. But somehow I force myself to tackle a little at a time and I am making progress.